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Five years of Bt cotton in China – the benefits continue

  1. Carl E. Pray1,
  2. Jikun Huang2,
  3. Ruifa Hu2,
  4. Scott Rozelle3

Article first published online: 16 AUG 2002

DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01401.x

Issue

The Plant Journal

The Plant Journal

Volume 31, Issue 4, pages 423–430, August 2002

Additional Information

How to Cite

Pray, C. E., Huang, J., Hu, R. and Rozelle, S. (2002), Five years of Bt cotton in China – the benefits continue. The Plant Journal, 31: 423–430. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01401.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA,

  2. 2

    Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, and

  3. 3

    Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

**For correspondence (Fax +1 732 932 8887; e-mail pray@aesop.rutgers.edu).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 AUG 2002
  2. Article first published online: 16 AUG 2002
  3. Received 8 March 2002; revised 14 June 2002; accepted 18 June 2002.

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Keywords:

  • Bt cotton;
  • benefits;
  • China

Summary

Bt cotton is spreading very rapidly in China, in response to demand from farmers for technology that will reduce both the cost of pesticide applications and exposure to pesticides, and will free up time for other tasks. Based on surveys of hundreds of farmers in the Yellow River cotton-growing region in northern China in 1999, 2000 and 2001, over 4 million smallholders have been able to increase yield per hectare, and reduce pesticide costs, time spent spraying dangerous pesticides, and illnesses due to pesticide poisoning. The expansion of this cost-saving technology is increasing the supply of cotton and pushing down the price, but prices are still sufficiently high for adopters of Bt cotton to make substantial gains in net income.

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